Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
by Goldberry
Summary: Snapshots of Shunsui and Nanao, before and after. Complete.
1. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

_Author's Notes: I figured these two needed their own collection since I've been writing a lot for them lately. This one has many spoilers for the manga Soul Society arc, so beware if you're an anime watcher. Otherwise, enjoy. ;)_

**Swing Low, Sweet Chariot**

The night they view Aizen's soul-less body, it's raining lightly and Nanao holds an umbrella over her head, quiet and still as water drips in front of her, muffling sounds and washing away sins and blood alike, somewhere. She stands outside the 4th Division's headquarters as Shunsui ducks under the doorway, taking off his hat and letting rainwater puddle on the floor. Unohana doesn't notice.

They talk quietly for a moment and Nanao can't hear what they're saying, Shunsui's dark amber voice thudding against her heart and bones, Unohana's gentle alto a low counterpart that soothes and comforts. She doesn't really want to know what they're saying, though, because she sees Aizen behind them and she feels a chill that has nothing to do with the rain.

It's the first time she thinks about her own death.

"Nanao-chan..."

She lifts her head to find Shunsui watching her carefully, concerned, and she realizes she's let the umbrella drop and rain is dripping from the ends of her hair, turning it an inky black in the twilight. Steadying herself, she closes the umbrella with a soft snap and steps inside, feeling suddenly cold and stiff and wondering how many memories are painted on her face. Shunsui spares her the explanation though and goes to Aizen's side, standing over the fallen shinigami solemnly, hat in his hands.

"It's strange to see him this way," Unohana comments softly, and Nanao knows the healer is speaking to make her at ease.

"Yes, it is," Nanao replies, surprised her voice comes out so firm, so polished. Shunsui hasn't moved. She turns to the other woman. "There are still no leads as to who...?"

Unohana shakes her head slowly. "No." The word is strange and barbed and dances across the room like something dangerous and uncatchable. Nanao decides to stop asking questions. There is no protocol for the murder of a shinigami and all her logic cannot hope to create one. Not in this place.

She and Shunsui leave after a few minutes, bidding farewell to Unohana who knows too much about death, all kinds, and doesn't mind sitting down to tea with it alone. The rain has stopped and they walk along wet pathways, past flowers full of dew and through mist that sticks to their skin like lace. After a moment, Shunsui abruptly stops and she pauses with him, staring at his back.

He doesn't say anything and she understands he's waiting for her to speak. And so she does. "Something is happening."

He nods once. "Yes."

And that word is just as dangerous as its opposite. Nanao folds it and puts it into the sleeve of her uniform like a secret letter, burning with traitorous information. She'll hold onto it, to protect them.

They start walking again.

**The End**


	2. Temporary Nirvana

_Author's Notes: Nanao contemplates the illusion of heaven. Manga spoilers._

**Temporary Nirvana**

Nanao kneels smoothly in the grass, knees together, the dark of her robes a void of color against the flower-strewn hilltop. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she sets the shamisen in her lap, plucking the strings hesitantly as she listens to the tone, flipping the bachi through her fingers a few times before settling, a habit she picked up when she first started playing for him.

Upon hearing those first few tentative notes, Shunsui smiles, something she can see even across the meadow, and he steps back slightly, his eyes twinkling at Ukitake who stands some feet away, grinning as well. It's a ritual they have, this game of sparring, two old friends testing the borderlines of conquer and retreat. It is done with an air of foolishness and pride, and Nanao has never seen either of them draw blood in this makeshift arena. Shunsui had once told her that would defeat the purpose.

She doesn't pretend to understand why Shunsui likes her to play during these moments, the ancient melody of the shamisen a striking backdrop to the ring of their swords, an accent to the swirl of her Captain's robe, the flutter of Ukitake's long hair. She doesn't mind though. She likes playing for them, encompassing them in the protective embrace of her song, as if each note is a defense against the outside world.

It reaches them anyway, no matter her efforts. Her fingers halt for a second when Ukitake suddenly hunches over, his fingers vainly trying to smother the hard coughs that shake through his body. Shunsui's swords take a dip towards the ground but Ukitake shakes his head and puts a hand up to keep him from approaching.

There is blood on his fingers.

Nanao hates this part. Soul Society has too much death for a supposed heaven. Too much pain and guilt and sorrow. She remembers a time when Shiba Kaien used to occupy the space next to her, teasing her and his Captain at the same time, making the scene a little less formal, a little more comfortable. Now there's an emptiness and she can see it in Ukitake, too. If Shunsui can, he ignores it, a gentle expression on his face as his friend straightens, breathing normally again.

This place is only temporary, she thinks. Heaven can't last like this, full of death and dying.

But then she looks at Shunsui and can't help but feel that perhaps paradise is found in people, never physical, never easy, but there if you look for it.

Ukitake rubs his sleeve over his mouth, leaving a dark stain on his clothes. Nanao closes her eyes and keeps playing.

**The End.**


	3. Breathe the Storm

_Author's Notes: Set after the Soul Society arc. Spoilers!_

**Breathe the Storm**

She woke instantly alert, not a muscle moving as she gazed about the strange, familiar lines of her room, a crack of lightning painting the walls white and banishing any shadows. Exhaling, she blinked and draped an arm across her forehead, wondering why she had awakened. The summer storm outside was loud but she knew instinctively that that was not what had tiptoed across her dreams.

Then she felt him.

He was sitting outside the door, his silhoutte barely visible through the rice paper. The low vibration of his spiritual pressure was at a comforting pulse, dimmed because of the late hour and the fact that he was relaxed. She lay there a moment, lulled by his pressence, before sitting up and sliding off her futon, bare feet soundless against the wooden floor.

Stopping in front of the door, she slid it open about a foot, the sound of rain falling washing over her. Shunsui didn't move, though it was obvious he knew she was there. Instead, he continued watching the thunderstorm, his twin katanas tilted against his shoulder, straw hat on the ground beside him. Nanao let her voice penetrate the silence.

"Off duty?"

She glimpsed the corner of his easy smile. "Just." He paused. "Did I wake you?"

"No."

His smile stayed as if he knew she was lying. She sighed a little and looked out over the wet courtyard, solemn, understanding that she had long ago lost the power to deceive her Captain.

"Why are you out here?" she asked him. He didn't look at her.

"I was thinking of you." He turned his head finally, a gentle expression on his face. "Were you dreaming of me as well, Nanao-chan?"

She felt a blush stain her cheeks and she glanced away, wanting to adjust glasses she wasn't wearing, anything to distract him. His gaze was too knowing, sometimes.

Shunsui chuckled softly and unfolded himself, standing straight, swords in hand. She was forced to look at him again when he reached out and tucked a free strand of hair behind her ear, the brush of his fingertips against her cheek a caress. Almost against her will, she leaned ever so slightly into his hand and he stilled, the two of them breathing together within a storm.

Her voice was breathless. "It's over," she reminded him. _You no longer have to worry._ "We're alright." _You didn't die on me._

His hand fell away from her and she immediately missed it. His lips replaced it, though, as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. Seconds passed and she found herself drowning in the scent of flowers and rain.

"Good night, Nanao-chan," he murmured in her ear and stepped back, leaving her with his touch on her skin and a warmth in her chest. She watched him go and knew she'd find him sitting outside her door tomorrow night. She smiled quietly to herself.

Maybe next time she'd invite him in.

**The End.**


	4. Like So Many Pages

_Author's Notes: Nanao wonders about the Final Act. Slight Ichigo/Rukia._

For SxStrngSamurai.

**Like So Many Pages**

The well-worn pages turned easily in her hands, her fingers brushing the dog-eared corners as she skimmed the text, her mind wandering down avenues of black letters and symbols. The book in her hands was heavy and ancient and smelled of dust, it's contents as archaic as the movement of stars and planets. Nanao had usually had a fondness for reading such scripts, but not on that day. Her focus was off and no amount of adjusting her glasses would clear it.

It wasn't that she was unhappy. No, on the contrary, she felt a lightness around her, like unseen clouds brushing past her skin. For the moment, the fighting had stopped and those she cared about had lived. Aizen and his conspirators had escaped, creating the temporary lull, and the ryoka were preparing to leave. To her, it seemed that Soul Society was a bit, well, _empty_. Especially since Shunsui had wandered off somewhere and she had yet to get a member of the 4th Division to check his wounds. She had bandaged them herself on the field but she was far from a professional. She'd have to remember to have Ukitake checked out, too. No doubt he was also running around without proper supervision.

Well, for him, she could understand it. Kuchiki Rukia had lived, after all.

Nanao closed her book with a sigh and rose, tucking the volume under her arm as she left the 8th Division's Headquarters. Stepping out into the sunshine, she breathed in the heady scent of flowers and felt herself relax. The fragrance reminded her again that she'd better find Shunsui, and she was turning towards the inner court when a movement caught her eye. Walking down the street was one of the ryoka, Kurosaki Ichigo, and the girl who had been saved from a second death, Kuchiki Rukia. They were moving slowly, with the lazy grace that said they were comfortable with each other, that time held no meaning. Ichigo's arms were folded into his sleeves but his face was relaxed and Nanao thought she glimpsed a genuine smile on it. Next to him, Rukia's hands were swinging at her sides, and her eyes were somehow both soft and determined at once.

It was strange, seeing them that way. Only minutes before, Nanao had seen the Kurosaki boy run by with the long-haired ryoka girl - Orihime, was it? - as if bloodhounds were on their heels, and yet now that he was with Rukia, he looked… content. She thought she knew why, too, or had an inkling anyway, but it wasn't her place to pry into such things. Ryoka matters were best left in the hands of the captains. Still, she couldn't help but watch them as they turned a corner and disappeared from view. Kurosaki had gone through so much to rescue Rukia and now he would be leaving her behind. Rukia was, or at least had been, a shinigami, and her place was in Soul Society. It was logical that she would stay and the ryoka boy would leave. Logical, but not fulfilling.

The story wasn't ending correctly, she thought. Or maybe, there was still an epilogue. Either way, she felt that it wasn't over. Whatever plot was being penned, whatever words were being written, she could do nothing but continue on as she had been. She, too, was a character in all this, no matter how small the part.

She found Shunsui that afternoon, moping that Matsumoto had denied him alcohol of any kind, and had to stop herself from smiling where he could see. She could read him like so many pages in a book, as if they were actors, their movements directed and planned. She should have scolded him for trying to get drunk when there was work to do, but she didn't. She only sighed and told him she'd pour sake for him after he went to see a medic.

It was good to toss out the script every once in awhile.

And maybe that was what Ichigo and Rukia were doing as well. Breaking through the bonds of promises and lies to find something new, something unintended.

Nanao only hoped that she would be there to see it.

**The End. **


	5. The Path of Wandering Souls

_Author's Notes: Inspired by the 8th Division ED in the anime. Explanation for one of the scenes. _

**The Path of Wandering Souls**

There have been worse days, she's quite sure, though nothing immediately comes to mind, the images twisting away from her before she can quite grasp them. She's a little bit frantic and not thinking clearly, her thoughts whirling in patterns that don't make any sense. It's a survival mechanism, she thinks. Don't focus on the situation and it's like it's not real. She's never been one to shy away from the truth, though, and she can't understand why she's doing it now, when she's obviously in trouble.

There are sections of Soul Society that shinigami rarely go. Dead zones where her kind are not welcome. The people scorn them and there are stories of death gods being hurt there, perhaps disappearing for whole days at a time. She's never had a reason to go there and doesn't have one now, except that she was running an errand and lost her way. It's possible, she tells herself, the streets are like mazes and Rukongai is vast. No one would think her any less intelligent for losing her sense of direction. It had been a trying day, after all.

They are only excuses, however, another attempt to keep her mind off her current situation. It is against the law to draw her hidden soul slayer against citizens of Rukongai unless she has permission, and she doesn't. Instead, she's forced to run from the footsteps she hears behind her, from the small groups of men materializing out of the shadows with lethal smiles on their faces. She can't imagine what they plan to do to her and she's glad, she doesn't want to know. She just wants to reach the pure walls of the Court in one piece and that is looking impossible.

She's surrounded.

Nanao clutches her book in front of her, a weak shield in case they should rush her. She glances around the yard she's in, looking for exits but finds them all blocked. She's trapped, and the thought sends her heart racing. She's angry, too, she realizes, a low, pulsing anger that she can't use. They are people the shinigami brought there. She knows this place isn't much of a heaven, but it weighs on her that these people would relive their past crimes all over again.

But maybe they were forced to, she concedes. Soul Society has its dangers, as she well understands. It takes a certain kind of strength to survive there and not lose one's ethics, especially in the worst parts of the city.

These people, she knows, are angry, too.

So she doesn't speak, simply backs up a pace or two, knowing she can't fight back and unsure that she'd really want to. One of them raises a weapon and her eyes widen, her body tensing for impact-

The edge of a cherry-colored robe flutters into her field of vision, followed by a broad shoulder and a long tail of wavy dark hair. Her attacker grunts as Shunsui slams the sheathed blade of one of his soul slayers into the man's gut, pushing him back forcefully. Her Captain lifts the rim of his hat slightly and looks at the goon, his eyes calm and somehow unapproving. Like a parent disappointed in his child. It makes the gang shift on their feet, suddenly ashamed.

And then he glances at her over his shoulder and smiles that goofy smile that makes her want to slap him and smile back both at once. Instead, she adjusts her glasses and sighs.

She's been found, and maybe the day isn't so bad, after all.

**The End**


	6. Cherry Blossoms In Winter

Author's Notes: More Shunsui/Nanao. No, I don't own them. XD

**Cherry Blossoms in Winter**

Nanao blinked as Shunsui reached over to touch her lightly on the nose, bringing his finger back in front of his face to gaze at it curiously. She felt her eyebrow begin to twitch.

"It's snowing," he said suddenly, cheerfully. She tilted her head and then blinked again as a few fat snowflakes drifted down from the sky, sticking to the grass as soon as they landed. Shunsui looked up, a smile creasing his face as it began to snow in earnest, the white stuff falling in lazy circles and piling up rather rapidly. Nanao noticed vaguely that only about thirty feet away, it wasn't snowing at all.

"Captain..." she said, a bit uneasily. This was very strange weather for the season and she felt a certain hum along her skin, like a sound too low to be heard properly. It was a vibration of power and that could only mean someone was causing the abrupt snow shower purposefully. For what reason, she couldn't even begin to hazard a guess.

"Ah, it's the kids," Shunsui remarked, a note of amusement in his voice. She followed his gaze to find Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Aizen's Vice Captain standing in the lawn not far from them, the girl - Hinamori, Nanao remembered - throwing a snowball right in the 10th Division's Captain's face. Nanao arched a smooth eyebrow at their antics. She hadn't known the two were close but they had to be for them to act so unreserved around each other.

She cleared her throat and shivered reflexively as a cold wind brushed by her. "I don't believe Captain Hitsugaya would appreciate you calling him a 'kid'."

"Probably not," he agreed, but made no effort to take back the words. "Then again, he _is_ the one using his power to impress a cute girl."

Nanao barely kept herself from choking, reaching up to adjust her glasses as she looked over at Shunsui. "I doubt Captain Hitsugaya is doing anything of the sort, and besides," she added, "you've done _much_ worse to win over girls."

He grinned at her, but when he spoke his voice was gentle. "Just one girl," he said, and the way he was looking at her left no question about who he meant. Despite herself, she shifted under his eyes, something about his tone telling her he was serious. "Of course," he continued thoughtfully, "my ideas never seem to get through to you." He seemed perplexed at the very notion that she was resistant to his charms. "But then again, that's why my Nanao-chan is sooooo cuuuut-" She calmly smacked him on the arm with a folding fan.

"We're going to be late for the meeting with Captain Ukitake," she said primly, walking past him and towards the 13th Division's headquarters. For a moment, he didn't follow her and she could feel his eyes on her back, but then she heard his footsteps in the snow and something warm fell to her shoulders, brightly-colored and smelling of cherry blossoms. Her eyes widened at the sight of Shunsui's robe.

"Captain..." she said, off balance. He winked at her.

"I can't let a pretty lady get cold now can I?" He folded his hands into his sleeves and began walking, confidant she would follow. And of course she did, holding his robe together and trying not to think about how comfortable she felt wrapped in his presence.

Maybe she would speak to Captain Hitsugaya about letting it snow more often.

**The End.  
**


	7. Sleeping Young

_Author's Notes: Another scene from the 8th Division's anime ending._

**Sleeping Young**

They find him asleep, slumped over a table littered with too many empty sake cups and bottles. His cheeks are flushed and she thinks he might be drooling onto the tabletop but it's hard to see from where she's standing. Either way, she knows she won't be spending the night with the other female Vice Captains, not with her Captain sprawled so inelegantly in such a public place.

Sighing a little to herself, she flashes a brief smile at the others and tells them to have a good night, she'd better check on Shunsui and make sure he's still breathing. They laugh and say they'll visit tomorrow. Nanao doesn't hear them, however, because she's already at Shunsui's side, wondering exactly what she's going to do with him.

She decides not to wake him. He's sleeping deeply and in his state wouldn't get far anyway, nevermind back to the their headquarters. So she closes the sliding doors and dims the lights, clearing the saucers and bottles away until she's satisfied with the state of things.

She also pulls Shunsui's robe up further around his shoulders, taking his straw hat off his head and placing it to the side soundlessly. His face is bare to her now and she tilts her head, watching him expressionlessly for a moment. He's a child when he sleeps, she thinks. He can act juvenile in the daylight, of course, and does, but when he sleeps he really is younger, all the years melting away. She can't say as it's a very comforting thought. After all, those were years they had fought for, that were precious.

Still, it must be nice to shed that weight, every once in awhile.

A small smile crosses her face and she sits down across from him, watching the moonlight find the shine in his hair, highlight the stubble on his jaw. When he wakes, she'll give him a lecture about drinking in public.

For now, she'll let him sleep young.

**The End**


	8. Stuck With You

_Author's Notes: I have about a bagillion of these short ones lying around. I should really start posting them more often..._

**Stuck With You**

Rumors are nasty, nasty creatures that turn truth on its head and dance around with veils of lies. They're also really fun to start and to gossip about and shinigami were really no exception when it came to lounging in corners, discussing who had trapped who in which division's broom closet. Mostly likely those conversations involved the name "Shunsui" and any available female that was even slightly good looking.

Yes, Shunsui was the resident ladies' man.

Well, at least people thought so anyway. The game was easier to see and harder to penetrate and most saw only what the 8th Division Captain wanted them to see. Nanao was one of these people and the day that she was assigned to the 8th Division was the day she thought about throwing herself into one of the garbage pits at the edge of the Court. It really wouldn't be so bad in there - stinky, yes, but at least she would be alone and unmolested.

Imagine her surprise when she met her Captain and all he did was smile as if he knew something she couldn't possibly understand and told her to pass her the cooked fish. Of course, the very next day he made kissy faces at her and called her his "Nanao-chan", but really, he wasn't that hard to keep in line. Nanao decided then that gossip was a horrible habit and Shunsui was easy to manage if properly supervised.

Especially after Matsumoto gave her that fan.

**The End**


	9. The Boy at the Academy

_Author's Notes: Set pre-manga and anime. _

**The Boy at the Academy **

She's in the Academy and, at this point, the person called "Shunsui" is only a vague blur in her mind, tall and dark-haired and nothing special. She barely notices him in the classes they share, her nose stuck in a book. The girls next to her whisper that he's a womanizer. Nanao shuts her book and moves elsewhere. She doesn't like gossip.

She sees him, _really_ sees him, for the first time under the cherry trees outside the Academy entrance. He's talking with Ukitake Jyuushirou and the two seem like friends. Nanao thinks the girls must be wrong about Kyouraku. Ukitake is a good judge of character. He wouldn't speak to Shunsui unless the boy was a good soul.

She greets Ukitake as she passes, her mind already on other things when Shunsui calls after her. She stops in her tracks and can't figure out why, her head turning of its own violation to glance backwards. Shunsui is smiling at her and she sees that his eyes are very gentle.

"You're very lovely, Nanao-chan."

He's a child with the voice of a man. The liquid tones melt over her and she can't quite catch her breath. It's more than a little irritating and she leaves without a reply, leaving him standing there, grinning.

She's in the Academy and, at this point, she does _not_ have time for boys.

Not yet, anyway.

**The End**


	10. Cat in a Cardboard Box

_Author's Notes: Shunsui and Nanao and a moment on earth. _

**Cat In a Cardboard Box**

Shunsui once found a kitten in a cardboard box. It mewed at him as he passed and so he noticed it, bending down and tilting back his hat slightly to peer inside at the small gray fluffball. He hadn't moved to pet it or pick up, simply knelt there watching it calmly. The kitten scratched the side of the box, almost as if to get his attention, but still Shunsui didn't move.

Nanao remembers thinking that the whole situation was very surreal. She couldn't read her Captain's face and it was unlike him to be still in the presence of cute things. Finally a little unnerved by his silence, she reached over his shoulder to pick up the kitten when his hand curled around her wrist, halting her.

"Don't," he said lowly, and with a firmness usually reserved for battle. "There's nothing we can do."

That was suddenly unacceptable. "But," she said, "he's going to die..."

Her words suprised even herself. She hadn't known she was sick of death.

"Wait," Shunsui advised. A moment later, a little boy walking with his father spotted the cardboard box and it's occupant. He scrambled right past Nanao and picked up the animal, pleading with his father to let him keep it. The older man relented. The cardboard box was left empty.

Shunsui straightened and offered her a little smile. "The power to give life isn't ours, Nanao-chan." His gaze followed the boy and his father. "We can only protect those who can."

Nanao arched an eyebrow. "You're being very insightful, Captain."

Shunsui tilted his hat back down over his eyes and smiled genuinely.

"It happens."

**The End**


	11. Balcony of Oblivion

_Author's Notes: This is the final installment of this collection. It's a small piece to end on, but a hopeful one. Spoilers up to manga chapter 180. If you're interested in reading more drabbles about these two, you are more than welcome at my Livejournal, which is where I post the majority of my writing these days. Thanks for hanging in with me this long and enjoy this final scene.  
_

**Balcony of Oblivion**

They're standing on the balcony of oblivion, watching events slide out of their control. There's blood and death on the field and it's soaking into the ground, making the earth groan and tremble. The wind tumbles through the meadow grass and doesn't make a sound, the eerie weight of doom stifling all movement. They can't hear anything except his voice as it rises, so calm and polite as if he isn't breaking buildings with his stare.

Aizen takes his glasses off. The wind picks up.

Shunsui tilts his hat down and the world knows it as something out of place in that frenzied nonexistance. Nanao knows it as a sign that he's come down to himself, like lightning headed for water. He's grounded and focused and bleeding. He's going to draw his twin swords and bring back the music.

Nanao wants to hear it again, that song of paradise, of flowers and freedom. Aizen's words mean death, a death beyond destruction. In that supposed heaven, they've found the devil.

He flees, with the breeze to carry him. The world stills and settles and Nanao already wants to forget, but the blood on Shunsui's face won't let her.

And they're still standing on oblivion -

- but at least they're together.

**The End. **


End file.
